Good Morning. Welcome to The Wire’s daily news roundup. Each day, our staff gathers the top China business, finance, and economics headlines from a selection of the world’s leading news organizations.
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The Wall Street Journal
- Ford in Talks to Sell German Plant to China’s BYD — A deal would mark a big step overseas for China’s electric-car industry.
- Janet Yellen Pushes China on Debt Relief for Zambia — Treasury secretary pursues crucial test of U.S.-backed effort to help developing countries.
The Financial Times
- China’s record $2.6tn rise in savings fuels ‘revenge spending’ hopes — Doubts linger over consumers’ willingness to deploy ‘excess’ deposits.
- China property bonds rebound on support measures from Beijing — Efforts to bolster confidence in the sector draw some foreign investors back to developers’ dollar debt.
- China is ‘barrier’ to ending Zambian debt crisis, says Janet Yellen — US Treasury secretary wants progress from Beijing on deal that has taken ‘far too long’ to resolve.
- Rural China runs short of Covid drugs over lunar new year holiday — Officials row with Pfizer over price as villages struggle to obtain antiviral medication.
- Opinion: The west will rue its embrace of protectionism — It doesn’t just split the democracies, it grants the Chinese-Russian view of the world as a zero-sum game.
The New York Times
- They Poured Their Savings Into Homes That Were Never Built — Across the country, instead of apartment towers, uninhabitable concrete structures rise up from idle, overgrown construction sites.
Caixin
- In Depth: China Boots Record Number of Companies From Its Bourses — Forty-two firms were forcibly delisted from stock exchanges in 2022, mostly due to poor financial performance, with that number likely set to double this year.
- Blizzard Games Go Offline in China as Deal With NetEase Ends — Players of titles including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone and Overwatch can apply for refunds of certain in-game purchases starting Feb. 1.
South China Morning Post
- China leads global patent race but needs ‘breakthrough’ to close gap with West in AI, chips — China has filed more international patents than any country in the world, but it has produced ‘relatively few original innovations’ in areas like artificial intelligence and semiconductors when compared to the US and Europe.
- Beijing tells US to fix own debt problems after Yellen calls China a barrier to solving Zambia crisis — Chinese embassy in Zambia responds to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s comment that progress from China on a debt deal with Zambia had taken too long.
- Chinese tech workers on visas in the US struggle under massive lay-offs in Silicon Valley — As US tech giants from Facebook to Amazon trim their payroll, many Chinese tech workers on temporary visas are scrambling to secure a new job to remain in the country.
- Legislation to block overseas lawyers from Hong Kong national security trials could be in force within 6 months, justice secretary says — Lam speaks out just days after Bar Association warns against blanket ban on overseas lawyers in sensitive cases.
Nikkei Asia
- China Belt and Road dreams fade in Germany’s industrial heartland — Geopolitical tensions derail Duisburg’s hopes of trade bonanza.
- Archrivals China, India move in to fund same Bangladesh port — Officials insist powers ‘will not collide’; others warn of contest for influence.
- Violence at Chinese-owned nickel smelter in Indonesia raises alarm — Analysts say government, company action on labor is essential to prevent spread.
- Opinion: The good old days will not be back for China’s internet companies — Crackdown’s end still leaves regulators with enhanced powers. By Angela Huyue Zhang
Bloomberg
- Apple Aims for About 25% of Production in India, Minister Says — Apple Inc. is looking to boost production in India to about a quarter of its global total, one of the country’s top government officials said, as the US tech giant seeks to diversify from its main manufacturing hub in China.
- UK Falls Behind China, Saudi Arabia on Women’s Health Index — Women’s health care in the UK is worsening and has sank to a level on par with Kazakhstan, a new survey shows.
- US Confronts China With Evidence of Companies Aiding Putin’s War — The Biden administration has confronted China’s government with evidence that suggests some Chinese state-owned companies may be providing assistance for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, as it tries to ascertain if Beijing is aware of those activities, according to people familiar with the matter.
Reuters
- China development loans to emerging economies hit 13-year low in 2021 – study — Loans committed by China’s two main trade policy banks fell to a 13-year low of $3.7 billion in 2021 due to Beijing curtailing funding for large-scale oil projects, a study from Boston University Global Development Policy Center showed.
- China offers Sri Lanka debt moratorium, IMF help still in doubt — Regional rivals China and India are the biggest bilateral lenders to Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people that is facing its worst economic crisis in seven decades.
Other Publications
- The Spectator: Morris Chang: the microchip mogul caught between Biden and Xi — He might be the most important businessman you’ve never heard of. By Chris Miller
- The Economist: Can China fix its property crisis? — Reforms risk another wave of excess.
- Associated Press: China’s Huawei looks to ports, factories to rebuild sales — Huawei, with a workforce of almost 200,000, has held onto its status as the leading maker of network gear based on sales in China and other markets where Washington has had less success at encouraging governments to shun the company.
- Foreign Affairs: The Return of Export Controls — A Risky Tactic That Requires Cooperation From Allies. By Chad P. Bown
